What Is The Conflict Between Thailand And Cambodia? New Civilian Deaths Reported As Dispute Extends To Border Area

Fighting broke out again along the Thailand-Cambodia border on Tuesday. Thai officials said their troops moved in to push out Cambodian soldiers spotted inside Thai territory.

This is just the latest spike in a long, tense history between the two countries. Both sides are pointing fingers, saying the other started it. The clashes wrecked a shaky ceasefire that US President Donald Trump helped broker back in July, after five days of heavy fighting.

Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute Erupts Again

On Tuesday morning, Cambodia’s Defense Ministry claimed Thai troops fired through the night in an area called Geography of Military Village Part 5. Two more civilians died overnight, bringing Cambodia’s death toll to six so far. Thailand said one of its soldiers has been killed.

The Thai Navy put out a statement saying they found Cambodian forces in Trat, a coastal province, and launched operations to drive them out. They didn’t share any more details.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet warned late Monday that Thailand “must not use military force to attack civilian villages under the pretext of reclaiming its sovereignty.”

Evacuations have swept across the border. Thailand moved 438,000 people out of five provinces, and Cambodian officials said hundreds of thousands have been pushed to safety as well. Thailand’s army reported 18 wounded soldiers, while Cambodia’s government counted nine injured civilians.

For more than a hundred years, Thailand and Cambodia have argued over parts of their 817-kilometre border, especially where it hasn’t been clearly marked. Disputes over ancient temples and land have triggered violence before, including a deadly week of artillery fire in 2011.

What Is The Conflict Between Thailand And Cambodia? 

Honestly, this fight between Thailand and Cambodia goes way back over a hundred years, in fact. It started when the French, after occupying Cambodia, drew up the borders. Ever since, the lines between the two countries have been a sore spot.

Things got especially heated in 2008. That’s when Cambodia tried to list an ancient temple from the 11th century right in the disputed zone as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thailand wasn’t having it, and protests broke out. People on both sides have been killed over the years soldiers and civilians whenever things boil over.

This latest round of trouble kicked off again in May, after a Cambodian soldier died during a clash. That sent relations between the two countries to their lowest point in more than ten years.

Right before the fighting flared up in July, both sides tightened things at the border. Cambodia stopped letting in Thai fruits and veggies, and even cut off imports of Thai power and internet. Both countries beefed up their military presence, with more troops gathering along the border.

What happened in July?

Thailand’s National Security Council says that just after 7:30 in the morning on July 24, Cambodia sent drones to spy on Thai troops near the border.

Soon after, Cambodian soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades showed up. The Thai side says they tried to shout and negotiate, but nothing worked. By 8:20, according to Thailand, Cambodian troops opened fire, and the Thais shot back.

Thailand also claims Cambodia used heavy weapons rocket launchers, artillery and that the fighting damaged houses, a hospital, and a gas station on the Thai side.

But Cambodia has a different story. They say Thai soldiers kicked things off around 6:30 a.m., breaking an earlier agreement by moving toward a Khmer-Hindu temple near the border and putting up barbed wire around it.

Cambodia says the Thais sent up a drone after 7:00, then fired warning shots around 8:30. According to Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence spokesperson, Maly Socheata, Thai soldiers opened fire at 8:46, forcing Cambodian troops to defend themselves.

Socheata also accused Thailand of going overboard bringing in too many troops, using heavy weapons, and even carrying out air strikes inside Cambodia.

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